Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Because they were site specific--and by that I mean they weren't just inspired by Eastern State, but utterly dependent on that venue to give them integrity as works design-wise as well, the pieces need some attention after their removal. The idea was to work with the original idea and to honor their origins as coming from the penitentiary but to give them autonomy at the same time.

In Eastern State, the work was installed in Cell Blocks 8, 11,14 and the hallway of 11. Each work could be seen as individual works, each section could be seen as individual installations and the whole thing could be seen as one big installation.I wanted to hearken back to this and resolve the pieces as groups, but they are not to be seen as large works--just individuals in a series.

Click to enlarge!

I worked with images of the penitentiary to create borders
for the Con/Fines windows that would emphasize their isolation and solitary
struggle.For this reason the border is
exaggerated in scale.There’s a lot of
stone to dig their way through should they be contemplating an escape!And of course, it is very similar to the
surrounding stone in the penitentiary itself.

The ornamental windows were given an ornamental
surround.The idea here, was tohonor the original groupings, but to give
them individuality.These borders update
the works so that they reference Gothic Revival and Victorian work.They are intended to create a dazzle effect
of truly blazing color.

For the three Icarus windows, I wished to take the
opportunity to point out something no one noticed whilst they were installed at
Eastern State and that is they were based on the primary colors of red, blue
and yellow.The border was then given
the texture of distressed concrete, which is a familiar sight at Eastern
State.The same distressed concrete
texture was used in the borders of the Weeping Chorus works.They were indeed in cells of stained and
cracked concrete.The Mother and Child
windows were actually in cells that had some pretty serious ceiling leaks and
thus, the sensation of weeping was all the more evident, as one visitor emailed
me to say.

The “Sister” window was built out—the only one of all the
windows.She is now in a crucifixion
pose, making the Weeping Chorus an “optional” triptych as would be seen in a
church.

I made no changes to this window!

I was struck in the making the transformations of these
windows how easily and simply they went from “prison” to “cathedral”.The Con/Fines and ornamentals are the windows
one would see along the nave and in the clerestory of a gothic cathedral.The Battle of Carnival and Lent the large
Eastern window in the Apse!The Icarus
windowscould be in a side chapel as
well as the weeping chorus with the crucifixion right in the middle where it so
obviously belongs.
It’s amazing how trust in the process allows these
“coincidental” developments to occur without effort.It was certainly as if it were meant to happen!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Hey folks!I now have a tumblr.
As you may have noticed, this blog is mostly updates on my art work. I figured the tumblr can be a way of sharing that which inspires me.

Every day, in the manner of one reading a newspaper, I go though a ton of websites to peruse what images are tickling the fancy of various strangers. Who knew there was so much weird and interesting stuff out there? (Cue aging person's astounded rumination at the change in how imagery is distributed in the modern world.)
And no, I don't read the newspaper.

Please read this post if you are interested in why I like these images...or in the parlance of today's youth "how I prefer to consume them.".